Stun guns use a high voltage and a low current electrical discharge to immobilize an assailant. The electrical discharge causes the assailant's muscles to uncontrollably spasm so that the assailant is temporarily paralyzed. The voltage of a stun gun typically ranges between 20,000 to 650,000 volts. Batteries serve as a power supply to electrical circuitry consisting of various electrical components. The circuitry includes a transformer that boosts the voltage in the circuit and reduces the amperage of the electrical current. A capacitor is used to build up and store an electrical charge before discharging the electrical shock through a pair of electrodes to the assailant.
A shortcoming of the prior art stun guns is that they are often single purpose devices. Accordingly, a flashlight is carried separately with the stun gun making it cumbersome to both operate a stun gun and the flashlight. There have been attempts to combine a flashlight with a stun gun, but these stun guns are not sufficient to deter and immobilize potential assailants because of the placement of the electrodes proximate to the light. The light is placed in the middle of the stun gun with the electrodes on either side. The light must be relatively small so that the gap between the electrodes is small enough to arc across. The orientation of the electrodes are also insufficient to deter a potential assailant. Accordingly, what is needed is a flashlight stun gun that appears to be a regular sized flashlight and also has sufficient power to deter or immobilize potential assailants.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed.
However, in view of the prior art at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.